Study links hearing and cognitive impairment in older people

Specialists from the Clínica Universidad de Navarra have demonstrated a direct relationship between hearing loss and cognitive and balance problems in older people, in such a way that Listening worse can mean thinking and moving worse.as both depend on the proper functioning of the auditory system.

The results of this study, which are presented at the 76th National Congress of the Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (SEORL-CCC), They doubt that there is a direct connection between cognitive decline and falls, a traditionally held belief.

“What has been seen is that When a person hears poorly, they use many of their brain resources trying to understand what they are saying. and those brain resources stop being used for other things such as attention, memory or even balance,” the general secretary of the SEORL-CCC explained at a press conference this Tuesday, Maria del Mar Medina.

The research at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra has followed for several years 714 people older than 55 yearswho underwent hearing, balance, cognition tests, and questionnaires on symptoms and quality of life. The results obtained were compared depending on whether the participants had normal hearing, untreated hearing loss or treated, either with hearing aids or other solutions.

Thus, experts have found that patients with untreated hearing loss had three times the risk of postural instability and that, even with treatment, the risk remained up to 4.1 times higher to that of the group without hearing loss. With this, they have determined that the greater the hearing loss, even if it is treated, the greater the risk of instability. They have also detected a positive correlation between hearing loss and balance problems.

Finally, they have observed a negative relationship between hearing and cognitive performancebecause the worse the hearing, the worse the scores on the corresponding tests. However, contrary to what was expected, they have not found a direct moderate relationship between balance and cognition, suggesting that both are independently affected by hearing loss.

The results must be confirmed with larger studies, but they could place hearing health as a key element for both the deterioration of memory and attention as well as stability problems. This would mean a change of focus in healthcare which would force us to prioritize the prevention and early treatment of hearing loss to reduce both problems.

“Treating hearing loss, in addition to optimizing hearing, can prevent cognitive decline and also falls. Ultimately, it can improve the patient’s quality of life,” highlighted María del Mar Medina.

Hearing loss isolates the elderly

The president of SEORL-CCC, Serafin Sanchezhas warned of the consequences that hearing loss has on the daily lives of older people. In this regard, he has referred to presbycusis, that is, hearing loss associated with age, which usually begins from the age of 55 years.

“Presbycusis causes this person who does not hear well to begin to isolate himself. They are people who stop having social relationships, they stop feeling useful, they lose their self-esteem, they do not leave their house, they do not do activities such as going shopping, helping their family with their grandchildren, going to school, they are not able to do that because they are afraid to leave their house,” Sánchez detailed.

The otorhinolaryngologist has commented that the increasing life expectancy of the population, which in Spain reaches an average of 83 yearssupposes that a person of 50 either 55 years Anyone who suffers from presbycusis still has a lot of life ahead of them to be able to hear or not, which is why it has encouraged us to find solutions.

Along these lines, he has demanded that the Administration hearing screenings are carried out in adults and older people to detect these types of problems early and be able to treat them. Sánchez has stressed that all of this will have an “enormous improvement in the quality of life”, which is why “it cannot be considered an expense”, but rather an “investment in health”.

“Therefore, we must try to make the Health Administration aware of the value of treating hearing loss at all levels of life.at all ages of life, and especially in older people because we know that there are more and more older people and that is an undeniable reality,” he stressed.

Multidisciplinary collaboration towards early detection consensus

During his speech, Sánchez highlighted the versatility of the specialty of Otorhinolaryngologyhighlighting that they treat serious conditions and also others that are part of the quality of life, related to hearing, balance, voice, breathing or sleep, something that the population is generally unaware of.

“Many times we do not give it any importance until it is lost. “When someone no longer breathes, that’s when they worry, when someone doesn’t have a voice, that’s when they worry, when someone loses their hearing, that’s when they worry,” he said.

In this sense, he has detailed that one of the aspirations of the scientific society is disseminate action protocols so that professionals closest to the patient’s daily life, such as Primary Care (PC) doctors, nurses or pharmacists, can detect this type of condition early and refer the patient to an otorhinolaryngologist to make the diagnosis.

“These protocols for detecting warning signs are very important because many times patients are not aware themselves that they are not hearingthat they have dizziness that they do not give importance to, that they have lost their sense of smell, that they have lost their voice, that they get dizzy sometimes, they are not aware of that and we have to work together through these protocols so that the referrals are immediate,” he explained.